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WEEKEND EDITION: I am back, recharged and ready to go. The week off was a nice change from sitting on the ocean, no tides, you don't need a chart to navigate....I rented it again for next year...No ham radio for a week, so let me look around for some news...

Foundations of Amateur Radio

The diversity of our hobby is breathtaking

You've heard me say that amateur radio is a thousand hobbies in one. It's not my idea, but it speaks to me in ways that are hard to articulate. Today I found a way that might give you an inkling just how vast this community is.

One place where our community gathers is on-air, but it's not the only place. There are clubs, websites, email lists, video channels and other outlets all catering for different amateur radio users and their interests. One such place is the social media site Reddit. In the so-called amateurradio sub with currently over 88 thousand members, there is a lively community discussing many of the different aspects of our hobby.

Over the past 24 hours, 23 posts were made in that single community.

"Thanks, K-2722 hunters", was a photo about activating Carolina Beach State Park, as part of an activity called Parks on the Air, or POTA. To participate you can either go to a park, set-up your station and make contacts, or you can stay at home and listen out for people who are doing that.

"It's not high-high, it's hee-hee", a meme around the sound that the Morse Code generates when you send the letter H followed by the letter I, commonly considered laughter.

"Why don't scanners have FM radio?", a discussion around the perceived lack of FM mode on scanners.

"Help with TYT MD-380 CPS", a question from an amateur who purchased a new radio and is looking for software to program it.

"Portable on the Space Coast. QRP on a speaker wire antenna.", a video of an amateur making an activation in Florida and showing off their set-up.

"Could not hit DMR repeater", an amateur sharing that they figured out that they couldn't hit a repeater because they had their radio set to low power and wanted to share that with the community.

"Antenna advice part 2", asking about how to set-up antennas for dual use, how to amplify the signal, use rotators and what kind of coax to use.

"ISS SSTV Aug 6-7 145.800 MHz FM", linking to a news item announcing slow scan television coming from the International Space station in August.

"FT-3DR APRS message question", exploring the specifics on how Automatic Packet Reporting System or APRS messages are sent. Think of it as global distributed SMS via amateur radio.

"Is it okay to leave a handheld radio on while it's on its battery charger 24/7?", with answers to the question that's puzzling one owner of a radio.

"Extra test question", asking about how to learn for the test and wondering if the techniques needed are different when compared with obtaining the "tech" exam.

"Just got my first radio! Now to prep for the test, but first a question about saving time after I pass it...", asking about how to register before the test to speed things along.

And that's just over half way there.

"Maldol TMH-21 / TMH-71 handhelds - any info?", asking about a new to them radio from around 2007.

"2021 Berryville, VA (US) Hamfest - any reddit community members going?", looking for others going to the first hamfest in their region for a long time.

"CB Radio is Going FM! Why is the FCC Doing It?", linking to a video that discusses the changes on how CB radio is getting another mode.

"What is the 'right' way to learn morse?", the age-old question, one that I'm still am working through.

"Sidetone distorted on QCX mini? How do I fix this? It gets better or worse when I move the radio around, but the problem doesn't go away. Anyone else's QCX do this?", with a video showing the issue.

"Aluminium roof trim + HF dipole", with a question on what kind of effects might happen as a result of the combination of the two.

"Never owned a Radio be for please help lol. I got 2 of these on the way any tips for beginners? [sic]", excited new owner looking for advice.

"I finally got my qsl cards printed!", with pictures to show the artistic prowess involved.

"Legality of transmitting digital data over FM audio", asking about the specifics on how data may or may not be transmitted in the United States.

"It's no pie plate on a kayak, but you gotta work with what you have, right?", showing off a frying pan as a magnetic base. If it works, it's not silly at all.

"Very New Here", asking about how to explore radio waves.

Those 23 different posts are all about amateur radio, from one single community, on one day. Each post from someone finding their way in the community, discussing something that's important to them, sharing their experience and contributing to that community. Reddit alone has at least a dozen amateur related communities, covering electronics, specific radios, amateur software development and more.

The thing about this hobby is that it's different things to different people. For some it's about getting on air and making noise, for others it's learning about whatever comes their way. This hobby is so vast because it touches so many aspects of life, it innovates, leads and contributes in ways that are often invisible and that's why it's so engrossing.

What's your latest interest in this hobby and what keeps you coming back for more?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

8-Meter Experimental Station on the Air from the US

MARS HF Net Participants Aid in Response to Fatal Maritime Disaster

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

UK ACTS TO PREVENT SATELLITE CONSTELLATION INTERFERENCE

DON/ANCHOR: Our top story this week looks at signal interference. No one wants it, of course, especially communications systems with thousands of satellites in the sky. Jeremy Boot G4NJH picks up the story from here.

JEREMY: Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has plans to mandate low-earth orbit satellite broadband systems such as OneWeb and SpaceX's Starlink, to engage in frequency coordination in order to avoid blocking one another's signals. Ofcom has said it will amend the companies' satellite licenses to ensure such coordination happens. They are particularly concerned about interference posing an obstacle when the market opens to additional satellite network companies. The regulator said satellites in non-geostationary orbits have a greater risk of interference with their uplink and downlink transmissions because as they move across the sky, competing satellites can end up in the same antenna direction at the same time, compromising communication with user terminals on earth.

The website, arstechnica.com, revealed the development, noting that Ofcom has issued a more detailed report outlining its concerns. Ofcom identified such constellations as SpaceX, already in beta service, and the proposed Kuiper (Ky-PURR) constellation from Amazon. Ofcom's report also identifies OneWeb, owned by Bharti Global and the UK government which is in its initial phase.

**

SWITZERLAND IMPOSES IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON ELECTRONICS

DON/ANCHOR: Shopping for ham radio equipment and other electronics in Switzerland just got a little more complicated. Ed Durrant DD5LP tells us why.

ED: Companies in countries outside the European Union are no longer being permitted to import electronics to customers in Switzerland unless those companies have a business affiliation within Switzerland, according to a posting on the website of the USKA, Switzerland's national amateur radio society.

A translation of the USKA posting says that the use of a Swiss-based "intermediary" for companies in those nations became mandatory as of mid-July. Although Switzerland is not part of the European Union, a trade agreement exists between the EU and the Swiss government.

The USKA's head of political lobbying, Willi Vollenweider HB9AMC, wrote on the website that the organisation considers this action "of strategic importance" to radio amateurs. Willi noted that the USKA hopes to petition the government, during its consultation period, on behalf of Swiss radio amateurs.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ed Durrant DD5LP.

(USKA)

**
NASA DEVELOPS ANTENNA TO SURVIVE HARSH ENVIRONMENT

DON/ANCHOR: If you've ever dreamed of the perfect antenna, well, it doesn't yet exist. But scientists at NASA have developed one they believe is robust enough for one of Jupiter's moons. Here's Ralph Squillace KK6ITB with the details.

RALPH: Think of it as a kind of super antenna: The unprecedented design from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is an all-metal structure created to withstand the intensely radioactive environment of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. Its designer, Nacer Chahat, a senior antenna engineer at NASA, created it even before an actual robotic lander for Europa becomes a reality. He said it was important to be ready for effective communications from such a harsh, watery, radioactive environment as Europa. Writing on the IEEE Spectrum website, Nacer said the antenna is able to transmit at a high data rate, is lightweight enough to not impede takeoff and landing, can communicate with Earth from 550 million miles away and is resistant to the intense ionizing radiation of Jupiter. He said a critical point was the antenna's construction of circularly polarized union cells that are entirely aluminum. They are capable of transmitting and receiving on X-band frequencies—7.145 to 7.19 GHz for the uplink and 8.4 to 8.45 GHz for the downlink.

Nacer wrote: [QUOTE] "Although it was designed for Europa, it is a revolutionary enough design that we’re already successfully implementing it in future missions for other destinations in the solar system." [ENDQUOTE] He said that meanwhile, the lab might make use of this design in 2026 on a joint JPL/European Space Agency mission to bring rocks back from Mars.

Nacer wrote that when a Europa lander mission becomes a reality, the antenna will further prove its real worth: [quote] "Without a working antenna, the lander will never be able to tell us whether we could have living neighbors on Europa." [ENDQUOTE]

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(IEEE SPECTRUM)

**
IARU GIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY TO FORMER REGION 2 PRESIDENT

DON/ANCHOR: In an emotional ceremony, the International Amateur Radio Union recognized one of its leaders recently but the award—delayed by pandemic restrictions—was delivered posthumously. Jason Daniels VK2LAW gives us the details.

JASON: Not quite two years after the IARU conferred the Michael J. Owen VK3KI Memorial Award to Reinaldo Leandro YV5AM, the honor was finally presented honoring his long service to the international organisation. The ceremony, postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was bittersweet, however. Relatives were on hand to receive the honor on behalf of the former IARU Region 2 president, who became a Silent Key on May 23rd of this year at the age of 79. Reinaldo, who was also an avid DXer and DXpeditioner, died knowing he had been chosen to receive the honor. In an emotional ceremony recently in Miami, Florida, it was presented to his niece, daughter and sister by Ramon Santoyo XE1KK, the current president of IARU Region 2. The award was created in 2012 and bears the name of VK3KI in recognition of his years of service and his giving spirit to amateur radio.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(IARU REGION 2, WIA)

**
COAST-TO-COAST ACTIVATION FOR 'WORLD'S LARGEST TEAPOT'

DON/ANCHOR: It's tea time! Here's a special event you might enjoy that's....steeped.....in some interesting, and fun, history. Jim Damron N8TMW explains.

JIM: If chasing special event stations is your cup of tea, you might want to check out what's going to be brewing between August 1st through to August 8th. Hams around the country will be calling QRZ on all bands, using all modes, to celebrate the World's Largest Teapot. You heard that right: the celebrated teapot stands 14 feet high and 14 feet in diameter in northern West Virginia near the border with Ohio and the special event coincides with the annual teapot festival in Chester, West Virginia on August 7th.

The local club organizing the event, the Hancock Auxiliary Communications Team, will be using the callsign W8T and will be operating from the site of the teapot itself. There will also be a bonus station, WV8HAT. This is the fifth year for the special event but according to one of the organizers, Justin Shaw W8LPN, this is the first year there will be 10 stations activating using W (number) T callsigns from all call areas around the country. Contact with all 10 gets chasers a clean sweep, known as a Full Cup. Hams contacting all stations plus the bonus station are eligible for a Full Pot. Information about certificates is available on the QRZ page for W8T.

Even if tea isn't your bag, you may find the history of this beloved symbol compelling. Its humble origins date to the years before World War II when it began life as a wooden barrel used in a root beer advertising campaign. A handle and spout were later added and, reborn as a teapot, it enjoyed subsequent roles as a concession stand, a souvenir shop and a pottery with a gift shop. After it was refurbished, it was rededicated in 1990 as a beloved symbol of local identity. It has since inspired the annual festival in August where proud residents can share that their cups runneth over.

For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jim Damron N8TMW.
**

MISSOURI HAMS HAVE A CAPITAL IDEA

DON/ANCHOR: In the US, the state of Missouri is turning 200 years old and hams there have a capital idea for celebrating. It involves, of course, the state's earliest capital. Randy Sly W4XJ brings us up to date.

RANDY: While Missouri has always been called the “Show Me” state, from August 7th through the 14th, it will become the “Hear me” state. In celebration of the state’s bicentennial, special event station K0B will be on the air, sponsored by the St. Charles, Missouri Amateur Radio Club. Event organizer Jim Briggs, KK0GT told Amateur Radio Newsline that, in addition to operating from various members' homes, K0B will have a station located at the SCARC Hamfest in O’Fallon, Missouri on August 8. On August 10, they will be “on the air" at the site of the first Capitol building in Missouri, located in the St. Charles Historic District on the west bank of the Mississippi River. This is the first time an amateur radio station has operated at this site. The building served as the state Capitol from 1821 to 1826.

K0B will be active on SSB, CW, and FT8 on 80-6 meters, as well as 2-meter FM simplex. A special paper QSL and a downloadable PDF certificate will be available. Watch the SCARC Facebook page for an operating schedule and more information. Also, be on the lookout the rest of this year for more special event stations, as Missouri celebrates 200 years.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, this is Randy Sly, W4XJ

(ST. CHARLES AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)


**

SILENT KEY: FRED STONE W8LLY, EMERGENCY RESPONDER

DON/ANCHOR: Members of the Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club in Ohio are mourning the loss of an amateur who was remembered as not just a friend but an educator and mentor. Fred Stone, W8LLY, became a Silent Key on July 26th. He had been ill with pancreatic cancer. Fred was well-known as an active participant in public service activities including ARES and he had been a District Emergency Coordinator for District 3 for many years. Many hams recalled him in comments on the club's Facebook page, crediting Fred for providing the gateway to amateur radio for them.

(FACEBOOK PAGE OF BARC)

**

WORLD OF DX

In the world of DX, JA1TOKYO is on the air, marking the Olym pic and Paralympic Games that opened on July 23 in Tokyo. Each band has been assiged its own operator. The station will remain active until the 5th of September. There are also 10 mobile stations with the callsign 8J [regional call area] OLYMPIC at each regional headquarters of the Japan Amateur Radio League and 8N [regional call area] OLP will be on the air as well at a higher output. No QSL cards are required. EQSLs are being accepted. For QSL, certificate and awards information, follow the link in the printed script of this newscast at arnewsline.org. [PRINT ONLY, do not read: https://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-2_Awards/Award_Main.htm]

R3RRC/0 will be operating from Furugelm Island, the southernmost island in Russia between July 31st and August 4th. Maxim, RU5D, Gennady, R3BY and Vitaly, R0MR will be using R3RRC/0 as well as their personal callsigns RU5D/0, R3BY/0 and R0MR/P respectively. Be listening on 40 to 10 meters where they will be using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4.
Harald, DF2WO, will be in Kigali, Rwanda, using the callsign 9X2AW between September 13th and 28th. He will be using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on 20,17,15,and 10 meters. QSL direct to his home callsign.

Bo, OZ1DJJ, will be on Tasiilaq Island using the callsign OX3LX between July 28th and August 13th. He will be found mainly on 6m and 4m but will also be on some of the HF bands.Send QSLs to OZ0J (Oh Zed Zero Jay).

(DX-WORLD.NET, JARL)

**

KICKER: MEET YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR FAITH HANNAH LEA KD3Z

DON/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Newsline is proud to announce the winner of the 2021 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year. Newsline’s Mark Abramowicz NT3V, chairman of the award program, is here with the story.

FAITH: “Wow! Thank you! That’s pretty cool!”

MARK: The reaction from Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z, upon learning she had been chosen as Newsline’s Young Ham of the Year.

Faith Hannah is 16 and the daughter of James, WX4TV, and Michelle, N8ZQZ, Lea of Palm Coast, FLA.

Faith Hannah says her parents were a big influence in her entry into the world of amateur radio starting in December 2014 at the age of 10.

FAITH: “So, I started studying for my Technician license along with my brother. And, we both went in and got it. And, two weeks later I had earned my General and then two months later I earned my Extra. So, that allowed me to really get into the stuff that I liked, which was working HF.”

MARK: Only 18 months after being licensed, Faith Hannah was invited to the 2016 Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX adventure operating PJ6 from the Dutch island of Saba.

FAITH: “And that’s when I realized, especially that DXing is amazing because I absolutely love those huge pileups and getting to talk to all of those different people. Because, I’m not entirely sure why but I love being at the calling end of a big pileup and just running that as fast as I can which is probably why I enjoy contesting.”

MARK: Among her PJ6 achievements was a satellite contact that broke the SO-50 distance world record.

In August, 2018, Faith Hannah took part in the Youngsters on The Air program in Johannesburg, South Africa for a weeklong stay that featured kit building and antenna building, satellite operations and a high-altitude balloon launch.

But on the way to South Africa, Faith Hannah and her father had a 22-hour layover in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. While on the ground in that Middle Eastern country, she visited and operated A62A and A60YOZ activated by the Emirates Amateur Radio Society.

In December 2018, Faith Hannah, her father, and her younger sister, Hope, ND2L, took part in the N4T mini-Dxpedition to the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico.

While there, the girls made 1,970 HF contacts and 100 satellite contacts during the 36-hour operation on the island.

Her account was published by CQ Magazine and she got the April 2019 cover with her sister.

Faith Hannah has been involved in several special event and contest operations with her family and continues to remain active in promoting the hobby to youth.

She completed high school through home schooling, but before doing so applied for and was accepted at Daytona State College where she earned an Associate of Arts degree at 15.

Now, at 16, she’s enrolled in Stetson University in Deland, Florida.

FAITH: “Right now I am working on two different bachelor’s degrees. One is a bachelor of science for molecular and cellular biology and another is a bachelor in business administration.”

MARK: Faith Hannah will have no problem contributing to her education. She placed first in Florida’s statewide competition and second in the national Veteran of Foreign Wars essay contest earning a $16,000 scholarship.

She said she’s exploring two career tracks right now – medicine or the law, or possibly both.

As for amateur radio, Faith Hannah says there’s always time for that.

FAITH: “I know this sounds weird but it doesn’t really take all of my time to do my school, to have fun and to do ham radio,” she explained. “It all just fits in perfectly because a lot of times if I’m getting on the radio and it’s not a contest I’ll just do it in the evening when gray line is there because that’s usually when I’m free and it’s a great time to make contacts.

“And, if it’s a weekend, we might take a radio and go out to a park or something and get on the air. And once it starts dying down, we’ll just hang around the park for a couple hours.”

MARK: You can follow Faith Hannah and her family on their “Ham Radio.World” YouTube channel where you’ll also see her brother, Zechariah, WX4TVJ, and sister, Grace, KE3G.

LAST WEEKEND EDITION: Sun is out, life is good.....TAKING THE WEEK OFF

My home for the week. Lake Horace, Weare, NH

THURSDAY EDITION: Sorry I missed yesteday, it was a boating day, Dr. appts and Physical therapy kind of day...Teen smacked in the face....

AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) Open for Amateur Use

DXpedition to Willis Island cancelled

Hi All,

Bad news I am afraid;

After months of negotiations with the new Coral Island Management Authority, DXPedition leader Tommy Horozakis VK2IR has had to cancel the Willis Island DXPedition that was planned for November of this year.

A combination of new rules banning the installation of any structures on the islands by the new authority along with the fact that COVID has now spread to four Australian states meant that going ahead was not going to be possible.

The Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia organised DXPedition would have coincided with 100 years of the weather observation and station being on Willis Island.

HARAOA website: www.haraoa.com

Mapping directional MW transmitters in USA-Canada

If you listen for MW/AM radio stations in the the USA or Canada then you will surely know that many of them broadcast with directional antennas.

This of course can help or hinder your chance of reception so you need to know what stations are doing. Many years ago one could buy an excellent book that showed all the radiation patterns but of course nowadays computers can do this job more accurately and be kept up to date with the most recent data changes.

We are pleased to launch a software tool by Bill Scott WE7W that will map the radiation pattern of all MW transmitters in North America. Radio Data Medium Wave (RDMW) will do this for daytime, nighttime and even critical hours. And the radiation pattern is superimposed on Google Maps so you can scroll around the globe and zoom in to even see the transmitter masts!

Not only that but RDMW will ray trace from the transmitter to your receiver, calculating the exact path a signal will take and its great circle distance. You can even see how much signal is being radiated in your direction and whether you are likely to hear a particular station.

RDMW has been adapted by the Circle into six regional editions, based upon where you might be listening, but of course you can set your receiver anywhere you wish in the software. You can download RDMW for a small admin charge from the Circle's website.

Find out more here:
https://mwcircle.org/north-american-mw-coverage-maps/

TUESDAY EDITION: Quin (K8QS) and Tom (WA9TDD) look at some of the best amateur cartoons of all time, focusing in Part One on antennas, gender, technology, and dreams, and in Part Two on money, obsession, and neighbors/family.   VIDEO 1   VIDEO 2....Pedestrian mobile and brain rf may be a problem if you are one of those dumbass hams ...Damn Russians frying brains with directed microwave attacks....

Media outlet picks up 40m Cuban signal story

The Vice Media site has picked up the story of signals believed to be from Cuba causing interference in the amateur 7 MHz band and which featured in YouTube videos

Read the Vice story by Jason Koebler at
https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5g849/cuba-is-jamming-ham-radio-frequencies-operators-say

ARRL 2020 Annual Report Now Available to Download

MONDAY EDITION: Yep, rain again here on the rock. Lousy boating season, not so good for camping either....The Living History Crews are made up of historical re-enactors who demonstrate life aboard the battleship USS ALABAMA and submarine USS DRUM during World War II.....AmateurLogic.TV Episode 158 is Now Available for Download:George's Distortion Exploration. Tommy and the One Man Field Day Team. Mike discovers SDRangel software.......

Cuban 40m jamming

40 Meter Band Jamming From Cuba? #soscuba #freecuba

An example of the Jamming that is currently happening on the 40 meter band.

Ham Radio Dude did to an interview with Alex W7HU on what is happening in Cuba, Please give it a watch
https://youtu.be/PZ8nJhR3WTg

Alex W7HU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVJS4skdtR8&t=0s

Here is a documentary on radio jamming, including it's roots in the 1920's.
Empire of noise [Full documentary]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXV4nTfGHuI

WIA Board issues apology for magazine's unacceptable language

The Board of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) say the June/July issue of their magazine Amateur Radio contained unacceptable racial and sexist slurs

The WIA statement says:

Apology and Retraction – AR Magazine June / July 2021

The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Board of Directors has become aware of a potentially offensive and unacceptable racial and sexist slur that has appeared in the most recent edition of Amateur Radio Magazine (AR Magazine) that is currently in circulation.

The comments appeared in an article under the heading Editorial, where several statements were made which could be considered a racial slur and further remarks that could be deemed to be sexist.

The WIA profusely apologises for any hurt or harm caused by these comments. We value diversity, inclusion and respect and we are working hard to create this within the Amateur Radio Community.

The events that have occurred are totally unacceptable to the WIA Board and despite the Board was not aware of its inclusion in the magazine, nor had the opportunity to read the article prior to publication, the Board accepts full responsibility for what has taken place.

The current digital version of the AR Magazine will be removed temporarily whilst this article is re-edited and then access restored. Unfortunately, the printed version of the magazine is now in distribution and cannot be retracted. However, an apology will be included in the next edition of the magazine and will appear on the WIA website and social media mediums.

The WIA Board will undertake a full review of the events that occurred and ensure processes are put in place to prevent any such repeat of this unacceptable situation.

On behalf of the WIA Board, our sincere apology to any member or individual that read this article and was offended by the remarks made.

Kind Regards

Scott Williams – VK3KJ

 

WEEKEND EDITION: A lovely weekend on tap, rain again....How A Group Of Dedicated Volunteers Are Keeping California's Wildfires At Bay ....

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Share if you care...

When you explore the landscape of amateur radio you'll discover an endless array of innovation. There's websites with photos and descriptions of activities, places discovered and lessons learnt. If you watch the growing collection of YouTube channels you'll discover videos describing what people have been up to, commenting on videos they've seen and you'll start to notice that people all over the community are pinging off each other. Social media does the same.

If you read an amateur magazine, or a book, you'll unearth references and counter-references, links and credits, descriptions gleaned and tests made, all of them interlinking and adding to the knowledge base that underpins the amateur radio community and society beyond it.

The same is true for on-air activity. Look at contesting for example, you'll hear descriptions from other contesters, sharing their lessons learnt which potentially influence how you do your next contesting activity. The same is true for working DX, operating any digital mode, running an on-air net, running a SOTA activation, anything.

The point being that you are influenced by others and everything you do influences somebody somewhere else who in turn influences the next person who might then influence you. On and on the chain grows.

This chain of knowledge goes back to the early science in our hobby, the works of James Clerk Maxwell who for the first time brought electricity, magnetism, and light together as different manifestations of the same phenomenon in 1864.

The reason we know this is because he published his work and without needing to leave home to see the original, anyone can read it today from the comfort of their living room thanks to the PDF that's on the Royal Society web-site.

The point being that Maxwell documented his work and shared it with the world.

In our hobby we've gone through the process of making our equipment from unobtainium, requiring that the actual components were constructed before you could actually put them together and use them for their intended purpose. We then went on the scrounge for parts from other equipment, acquiring surplus gear and through a phase where you could buy new components off the shelf and attach them to an etched circuit board. That evolved into being able to design a board, ordering it online, having it built for cents and shipped to our door.

Today an increasing component of our hobby evolves around software with its unique property of transience.

Unlike physical components, software is intangible. You imagine how something might work, you describe it in an imaginary language, convert it into something that can be run inside a computer, and if you did it right, the outcome gives you the basis for your next experiment.

When software reaches a certain level of complexity it becomes impossible to remember. You tweak something over here and something over there changes and unless you can keep all that together inside your brain as a cohesive imaginary model, you quickly run into a brick wall.

If you're a software developer you've likely heard of tools like CVS, SVN and git. They are examples of revision control. They're used extensively in software development, but increasingly they're being used to track changes in documents, legislation and places where change is constant.

As an aside, if you load the various versions of legal requirements of your license into revision control, you'll quickly discover that your license is slowly evolving over time, for better or worse. From personal experience, I know doing that for the Radiocommunications Licence Conditions in Australia was very interesting indeed.

Each of these tools gives you the ability to tweak something, track it and if it doesn't work out, revert to where you started your experiment. It's a little like using a soldering iron and a soldering wick, physical undo for experiments.

When I talk about Open Source software, I'm not only talking about the ability to look inside and add functionality, I'm also talking about accessing the history that goes with that.

Open Source software generally only works if it comes with a revision history, a trail of discovery outlined right there on your screen showing what worked, why and how it came about. There's often options for showing who made what change, which changes happened at the same time and the ability to extract that particular change. All essential ingredients for experimentation.

Closed Source software does all those things, but privately. It too likely uses revision control tools, even the same ones as Open Source, but the discoveries are held in-house, behind closed doors, used by a select few. The software evolves inside the organisation, but there's no insight for or from the outside world.

Of course, everyone is entitled to keep their stuff secret, but if you want to make a contribution to society outside the life of your walled garden, the only way forward is to publish and share your work like scientists have been doing well before the Royal Society held its first meeting on the 28th of November 1660.

Share if you care...

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

FRIDAY EDITION: Cuba is jamming ham frequencies....Introduction to Antenna Modeling using EZNEC will be presented by Greg Algieri WA1JXR at the next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo coming August 14th and 15th. For more information go to qsotodayhamexpo.com.....

Farside explosion touches Earth

Something just exploded on the farside of the sun. The blast was so potent, it peppered Earth with energetic particles even though the body of the sun was blocking the blast site.

This is the latest sign of increasing activity by young Solar Cycle 25.

Full story @ Spaceweather.com

Most 2021 Field Day Participants Entered in Class D

Youth on the Air Campers Enjoy Successful ISS Contact, Busy with Other Activities

Repeater troublemaker caught red-handed!

Switzerland's national amateur radio society USKA reports on action to tackle the problem of repeater abuse

They carry a report from the UHF Group which says:

On July 2, 2021, in the morning on various 70 cm repeaters, increased interference in the form of DTMF and siren signals were heard again.

Various DF teams were encouraged to track down the troublemaker and with success - various bearings led to Bellevue / Gottschalkenberg (southeast of Menzingen), where two teams found an already known radio amateur at 12:30 p.m.

Two people then had intensive conversations with this troublemaker, who - as in a conversation on May 26, 2021 with another successfully tracker - pretended to be stupid and clueless. Due to the waterproof bearing results and the repeated encounter of the same person at the coordinates of the respective bearings, there is no doubt that we have found “the right one”.

Maybe it's just a pious wish, but we hope that the interferer's intelligence is sufficient to see that it is now time for his QRT.

It remains for us to express our thanks to all those who have supported us for weeks and months with their tips, their active help and thousands of kilometers driven. In the end, Hamspirit is what you achieve together - and not what you talk about autocratically and preferably by radio.

 

THURSDAY EDITION: The blessed boat is on the mooring and had it's maiden voyage yesterday. It goes like a bat out of hell, about 40mph....A real Jackass stunt.....A significant event in the history of technology happened yesterday, and it passed so quietly that we almost missed it. The last few remaining NTSC transmitters in the USA finally came off air, marking the end of over seven decades of continuous 525-line American analogue TV broadcasts.....You gotta understand, this UFO thing is just the tip of what the government is covering up....Congrats to Roger- K1PV for 54 years of marriage...

Amateur radio tower: Judge says Framingham, MA zoning board of appeals 'erred'

A judge overturned a ZBA decision and ruled a magnificent 80-foot high amateur radio tower can be erected in the City of Framingham

The Framingham Source story says:

The Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) will discuss the 2020 court case involving amateur radio operator Galina Filippova versus the ZBA, which ruled in favor of Filippova, at its meeting on Wednesday, July 14 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Building’s Blumer Community Room. The public can attend the room in person or via Zoom.

Judge Howard Speicher ruled against the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals, and reinstated Filippova’s building permit, which had been previously revoked by the ZBA.

In 2019, Galina Filippova’s husband Mikhail Filippov KD1MF was issued a permit by the board to build an 80-foot amateur radio tower on the couple’s property, located at 273 Prospect Street. But once Filippova began to pour the foundation for the project, neighbors voiced complaints, and the ZBA voted not to issue the permit.

Read the full story at
https://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2021/07/13/judge-says-zba-erred-amateur-radio-tower-can-be-erected-in-framingham/

Eastern Massachusetts ARRL report
https://ema.arrl.org/2021/06/24/framingham-amateur-misha-filippov-kd1mf-wins-in-ma-land-court-decision/

"Attorney Fred Hopengarten K1VR literally wrote the book on how to get a personal radio tower approved by your local government"
https://ema.arrl.org/2019/12/12/neighbors-are-fighting-a-framingham-mans-ok-to-erect-an-80-foot-ham-radio-tower/

IARUMS June newsletter now available

The IARU Region 1 Monitoring System newsletter reports Over-The-Horizon Radar (OTHR) were and still are the main nuisance for radio amateurs

With the summer propagation conditions and thanks to several sporadic E-layers (Es for short), numerous driftnet radio buoys (DRB) and other fishing gear were heard again in the 10 m band, illegally serving the marking of fishing nets at sea.

They can be mostly received at the 28000 kHz to 28450 kHz part of the 10 m band, their transmissions being short but sent repeatedly every few minutes all day long. For identification, a short letter code is transmitted in CW (A1A), consisting of 1 to 3 letters.

The International Amateur Radio Union Monitoring System (IARUMS) Region 1 June 2021 newsletter can be read at
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IARUMS-Newsletter-06-2021.pdf

Recordings of military transmissions can be found on the Signal Identification Guide Wiki at
https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Category:Military

NASA TV to air launch of Space Station module, departure of another

The Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module undergoes final processing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in preparation for its launch to the International Space Station on a Proton rocket. Credits: Roscosmos

NASA will provide live coverage of a new Russian science module’s launch and automated docking to the International Space Station, and the undocking of another module that has been part of the orbital outpost for the past 20 years. Live coverage of all events will be available on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

The uncrewed Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), named Nauka, the Russian word for “science,” is scheduled to launch at 10:58 a.m. EDT (7:58 p.m. Baikonur time) Wednesday, July 21 on a three-stage Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live launch coverage will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Two days later, on Friday, July 23, the uncrewed ISS Progress 77 spacecraft will undock from the Russian segment of the station while attached to the Pirs docking compartment. With Pirs attached, Progress 77 is scheduled to undock at 9:17 a.m. Live coverage of undocking will begin at 8:45 a.m. A few hours later, Progress’ engines will fire in a deorbit maneuver to send the cargo craft and Pirs into a destructive reentry in the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Deorbit and reentry will not be covered on NASA TV.

After Nauka completes eight days in free-flight to allow Russian flight controllers to evaluate its systems, the 43-foot long, 23-ton module will automatically link up to the port on the Earth-facing side of the Russian segment station, vacated by the departure of Pirs. Docking is scheduled for 9:25 a.m. Thursday, July 29, with live coverage begining at 8:30 a.m.

Nauka will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk airlock for future operations. Pirs has been part of the space station since September 2001, functioning as a docking port for Russian visiting spacecraft and an airlock for Russian spacewalks.

For more than 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked on the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA’s Artemis program, the agency will send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon’s surface, and eventually expand human exploration to Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation – ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

Ham radio in Yachting Monthly mag

Yachting Monthly magazine looks at the use of amateur radio on the ocean waves and interviews Bill Walker M0WTW 

The magazine article by Barry Pickthall says:

Bill Walker [M0WTW], a retired electronics engineer and life-long ham Radio enthusiast who sails a Halberg-Rassy 37 with his wife Judy out of Chichester, has his radio shack in his back garden, high on a hill in Tunbridge Wells where he gets a 90-mile signal range on VHF and worldwide coverage on HF frequencies when propagation is good.

‘There is no restriction on listening to broadcasts over the ham net, but the authorities are now very proactive in policing rogue ham radio operators,’ he says.

For a start, there is an international language code to be learned when abbreviating common phrases to make it easier to understand when the signal strength is poor.

An amateur radio licence opens up a range of communication types, including free access to a network of amateur satellites and worldwide radio connectivity via the internet.

These types of communications are not affected by the vagaries of HF radio propagation.

Read the full article at
https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/hf-radio-or-sat-comms-communication-at-sea-79067

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Another rainy day, surprise...Apple Co-Founder Voices Support for Right to Repair ....Only a bulldog would attempt to have sex with a hedgehog........

Kit building at Youth on the Air (YOTA) Camp

Watch Youth on the Air Americas 2021 Camp Highlight Video - Monday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWSV3JaC6Y

Tidworth veteran's radio mast refused

Wiltshire Council have rejected a request for planning permission submitted by Bob Coleman G0WYD for a retractable mast that had been installed six years ago

The Andover Advertiser newspaper reports

He said that the hobby was one of few open to him, adding: “Due to various spinal surgeries, I am unable to play the sports I used to love. Radio communication is one of the few hobbies I can do and it plays a large part in keeping me mentally healthy, especially in the last year”.

Read the Andover Advertiser story at
https://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/19438543.tidworth-veterans-radio-mast-refused-objections/

Kit building at Youth on the Air (YOTA) Camp

Watch Youth on the Air Americas 2021 Camp Highlight Video - Monday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWSV3JaC6Y

TUESDAY EDITION: Good morning, foggy and overcast here on the island, as usual...rain everday this month, a new record....Richard Branson Didn't Go To Space ...Humans are practically defenseless. Why don't wild animals attack us more? ....

Youth on the Air Campers Activating W8Y, ARISS Contact Set for July 14

Young Caribbean Nation Formalizing Amateur Radio Guidelines and Standards

June 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Activity Report Released

SO Today Virtual Ham Expo

The next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo is a month away, Live from August 14-15, 2021 and then on-demand for 30 days.

It’s a great experience for those that want to improve their amateur radio knowledge and get exposed to new ideas, cutting edge ham radio technology, and practical techniques.

=And no need to travel - anyone can participate from their home or office! Information can be found at https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com.

At the Expo, you can listen and engage with almost 100 internationally recognized ham radio luminaries on approximately 18 different topic areas - there is something for everyone. Topics include: Antennas and Transmission Lines, Build-A-Thons, Contesting/DX, Controllers, Digital Voice Mode, Emergency Communications, Filters and Tuned Circuits, Future of Amateur Radio, Ham History, HF Digital Modes, New License - Now What?, Power Amplifiers, Propagation, Radio Astronomy, Software and Services, Space and Satellites, Test and Measurement, and Youth in Amateur Radio.

Here are a few examples of speakers you’ll want to listen to: (a complete list of speakers can be found at https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/spkrlist.html)

“Antennas and Transmission Lines” Track:

Small Transmitting Loop Design Project: Learn about STLcalc, an open-source program providing a flexible design aide for STL and Magnetic Loop antennas that can respond to user's changing needs and design goals. (August Hansen, KB0YH)

Compromise Beverage Antennas Hear Better Than You Think! Don’t give up easily on trying a Beverage receiving antenna. Discover how to overcome non-ideal terrain and space limitations. (Geoffrey Mendenhall, W8GNM)

Fun with HF QRP Pedestrian Mobile: A look at two antennas for HF pedestrian mobile and the results possible. (Peter Parker, VK3YE)

N4KC's Top 5 Get-On-The-Air-Quick Antennas: Recommendations for the top five simplest, most effective antennas to consider for your station. (Don Keith, N4KC)

“New License - Now What” track:

HF Noise Mitigation: Learn about the various sources of noise, and how to mitigate noise using a variety of techniques. (Mike Ritz, W7VO)

How to Hammer your Next Ham Exam: Discover the steps to take to master the material and excel in your next ham exam. (Michael Burnette, AF7KB)

Six Winning Ways to Get Contacts on HF: Get tips on six winning ways to make HF contacts. (Peter Parker, AK3YE)

Technician Licensees, Life Beyond Local Repeaters: Explore the world of activities, modes and bands available beyond local repeaters. (Anthony Luscre, K8ZT)

Watch as many presentations as you want! A big limitation of in-person events is that you can’t watch many of the presentations (you can only be in one room at a time). At the Expo, return anytime within 30 days to view any of the presentations that you missed as well as explore exhibitor offerings. At our last Expo, our 7,500 attendees downloaded 100,000 presentations during the 30 day on-demand period.

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio® in the United States, is a QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Partner. FlexRadio is the Expo’s Platinum Sponsor. Gold Sponsor’s are Elecraft and RFinder.

Early Bird Tickets are just $10 and then $12.50 “at the door”. Access to only the Exhibitor area is free. And save thousands of dollars since you won’t spend on travel, food, and lodging.
For more information, go to https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com.

QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Main Website

NASA launches Entrepreneurs Challenge to identify innovative ideas

NASA is announcing its 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge to invite fresh ideas and new participants that will lead to new instruments and technologies with the potential to advance the agency’s science mission goals. The agency’s Science Mission Directorate is seeking novel ideas that focus on priority areas for the commercial sector. The Entrepreneurs Challenge aligns with NASA’s goal to foster innovation and develop new technologies at lower costs while sourcing ideas from across the country with an emphasis on reaching out to underserved communities.

“NASA relies on innovative technology to advance our crucial science goals,” said Nicole Rayl, the acting chief technologist for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Today’s novel ideas enable tomorrow’s cutting-edge research – and we sponsor and support such technology development through every step of that process. We’re always so excited to see the creativity launched by challenges like this.”Successful participants will contribute ideas that advance the state of the art in three broadly defined science technology focus areas:

 

MONDAY EDITION: I got tied up with the new mooring over the weekend, replacing the wheel bearings on the boat trailer, bilge pump, and the Fuel Filter/Water Separator ...finally the hole in the water is ready to float in the harbor. This is the summer that wasn't here on the rock, nothing but rain, clouds, and wind or extreme heat.....Bob Heil returns for a visit, Gordon West, Paula and Bill of Portable Operations Challenge, Don presents Ham Radio Newsline, Joe talks 3D printing, and much more along with Val, Amanda and Josh. video.....

The 3905 Century Club will host its Eyeball QSO at Lake Tiak O' Khata in Louisiville, MS July 15-18, 2021 The MFJ-3905 Century Club will be hosting its Eyeball QSO at Lake Tiak O' khata in Louisville, Mississippi July 15-18, 2021. They will also be visiting MFJ headquarters in Starkville, Mississippi to tour the factories.  Martin F. Jue, K5FLU, Founder and President of MFJ Enterprises, Inc. will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, July 17 for the meeting for hams all over the country. The 3905 Century Club in an international amateur radio club founded in 1977. For over 40 years the club has operated the premier Worked All States, DX and awards nets on the amateur bands and has thousands of members across the globe. If you want to earn your WAS award or other fun awards this is the place to do it. We run nets on 20m, 40, 80, and 160m in SSB, RTTY, PSK and CW modes. We also offer over 40 awards. Thee will be a lot of ham radio activity in Mississippi over that weekend.  The Magnolia ARC, Lowndes County ARC and W5YD (Mississippi State University) clubs will be active on-the-air during the event.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Islands

Brian, GW4DVB, will once again be active as J88PI from Palm Island (aka Prune Island, WW Loc. FK92HO, IOTA NA-025), in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Island group, between July 24th and August 1st.

Activity will be holiday style on 40/20/17/15/10/6 meters using CW, SSB, SSTV and FT8. He will use a Yaesu FT991A into a 10m vertical antenna, a M0CVO HW-40HP off center fed dipole and possibly new antennas.

QSL via GW4DVB direct only (PayPal available) to:
PO Box 20:20, Llanharan, Ponty-clun, Wales - UK CF72 9ZA. For more details and updates, check: http://www.g4dvb.co.uk

ADDED NOTE: Palm Island is an exclusive, private-island resort. This idyllic tropical hideaway is situated near the southern tip of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an idyllic archipelago of 32 tropical islands and
cays known for its stunning natural beauty, clear, warm waters and turtles.

FRIDAY STORM EDITION: 50 MPH winds and torrential rain today, 4-6 inches. ....I will post news later, I had the grandkids over night and PT for my shoulder at 10AM....

First X-Class Major Solar Flare of Solar Cycle 25 Blacks Out HF on July 3

 

THURSDAY EDITION: Sure has been bizzare weather here on the rock. Friday expecting 2-4 inches of rain and a tropical storm watch....

W1AW/KL7 to serve as ARRL Headquarters station for IARU event

Slovenian 30 Years of Independence Award

The Slovenian Amateur Radio Union will celebrate the country's 30 years of Independence by issuing a special award. It will be eligible to all amateur radio enthusiasts all over the World.

For this event only, which started at the end of June and is running until December 31st 2021, 23:59 UTC, the Slovenian amateur radio stations can use special call signs. Those will add the number '30' into the suffix. For example: S50ZZ will be S5030ZZ, S51A will be S5130A, S57XXX will be S5730XXX etc.

In order to obtain the award a foreign amateur radio station must have at least 30 contacts with a S5 stations (regular and special call signs apply), out of which 10 or more with special prefixes ('30'). The use of any band/mode counts for the award.

Send the log - list of contacts (date, time, call, band and mode) to the following e-mail address: scc /at/ hamradio.si. The same email also applies for any possible questions.

The award will be issued in electronic form and will be downloadable as a PDF file from the website of Slovenia Contest Club.

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Port City ARC really does a great job on Field Day......NASA's helicopter on Mars just keeps flying and flying ...New nanotech will enable the human body to produce an electric current.....Yes. you can buy a fighter jet....The U.S. Space Force on Wednesday announced it has selected its first small group of soldiers, sailors and Marines who will transfer permanently into the sixth military branch -- part of a larger effort to centralize space operations and related missions within the fledgling service.

Port City Amateur Radio Club Field Day, NH has it down to a science..tnx Kriss- KA1GJU

We got the 1x1 call again of K1R for our 3A site atop Stratham Hill Park, Stratham, NH

Monoband beams tram lined up to the old fire watch tower, all pointing SW.

Top to bottom:
75/80 m dipole on backside of tower cantilevered with 14- 2x4 
One end of Joe's (K1JEK) Cobra antenna at the microwave dish antenna.
4 element 15m
3 element 20m
4 element 10m
5 element 6m

Not in view, but behind photographer a 3 element 40m wire beam pointing WSW (limited geometry on recently cut trees to aim SW)

Joe-K1JEK hiding amd Mike - N1XW

Steve (KC1ILT) sending 10 digital msgs via Winlink on a solar powered station
 with an NVIS antenna and phone ops on 2m & 70cm

Stuffed jalapeno poppers and bacon wrapped meatballs for the Sat PM appetizers, and home made pulled/shedded BBQ Pork, BBQ chicken, and  BBQ beans! Complements of Dave, W1DWF and his smoker.

 

TUESDAY EDITION: New Rusky rifle fires underwater....I heard a ham at a NH hamfest had a stroke during field day, I hope he is ok. We had a ham suffer a seizure during field day here in town, he is fine...

The RaDAR Challenge

The RaDAR Challenge is a unique event aimed at promoting the use of Rapidly Deployable Amateur Radio stations.

The second leg runs from 00:00 UTC to 23:59 UTC on Saturday 10 July 2021, but RaDAR operators will decide on their maximum, single period, four-hour activity. Activity is on all bands and modes except QSOs via terrestrial FM repeaters.

The RaDAR Challenge is not considered to be a contest but an individual challenge.

The exchange is your call sign, your name, a RS, RST or RSQ report and your 8- or 10-character grid locator. Log sheets must be submitted by 23:59 CAT on Thursday 15 July 2021 by e-mail to edleighton@gmail.com.

Get all the rules on page 100 of the 2021 Blue Book.

St. Kitts

John, W5JON, has announced he will once again be active as V47JA from his Calypso Bay, St. Kitts, West Indies vacation home, located 200 feet from the Caribbean Sea, between October 4-18th.

Activity will be on 160-6 meters using SSB and FT8.

Equipment is a Yaesu FT1000MP, FT450D and an Elecraft KPA500 Amplifier.
John states his antennas are a Mosley Mini32A 10/15/20m, 33' Vertical 10-40m, 35' Top Loaded 80m Vertical, 160m Vertical and 6m 5 element Yagi.

ALL QSLs go to W5JON direct or via LoTW. NO Bureau QSLs. ADDED NOTE: John will also make a side trip to Saint Eustatius Island (PJ5) and Saint Martin Island (FS)

St. Helena Island

Gerry, G3WIP (VK0GB, VK4BGL, VP8DPD), has now received his callsign and will be active as ZD7GB from the main village of Jamestown on St. Helena Island (AF-022).

He is there working as a doctor on the island until September 6th.

Activity will be during his free/spare time on 40-10 meters using SSB and FT8/FT4.
Gerry also brought his QO-100 satellite gear with him. His equipment is a FT857 and Atlas-210. Antennas are a vertical that tunes on 20 meter as well as a longwire.

QSL details are not figured out yet.

Svalbard operation

Tom, OH6VDA/LA6VDA, will once again be active as JW6VDA from the JW5E club station (http://jw5e.com/) in Longyearbyen (JQ78tf) on Spitsbergen Island (EU-026) between October 12th and November 1st.

Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands using SSB and FT8/FT4.

QSL via LoTW, eQSL, ClubLog's OQRS or QRZ.com log. Bureau cards via LA6VDA.

JULY 4th EDITION: A soggy 4th is predicted and no parade planned in town but it won't stop the family cookouts, enjoy the day...Thanks to Ari for the hidden July 4th girls...The Oil companies knew about climate change 60 years ago and allowed it to happen.....48 cylinder motorcycle is insane...Ham radio to the rescue.....

Tom Perera, W1TP, has a collection of over 3000 Morse code keys and bugs going back to pre-American Civil War, perhaps the largest collection in the World. He displays these keys in his virtual, on-line museum.

W1TP shares with me the history of his collection, some interesting stories, and his newest interest and collection of military cipher machines, including the WW2 German Enigma, in this QSO Today.

Listen to the podcast

Foundations of Amateur Radio

What mode is that?

The hobby of amateur radio is about communication. When you go on-air and make noise, you initiate a communications channel, sending information out into the world and hoping for another station to receive and decode what you sent. The channel itself can be used in an infinite number of ways and each one is called a modulation mode, or mode for short. The popular ones come with most radios, CW, AM, SSB and FM.

Those few are not the only ones available. In fact as computers are being integrated into the radio at an increasing pace, signal processing is becoming part and parcel of the definition of a mode and new modes are being introduced at break neck speed. I've talked about WSPR as an example of one such mode, but there are many, each with their own particular take on how to get information between two stations.

As you listen on the bands you'll increasingly find yourself hearing a bewildering litany of beeps, pops and clicks. Some of those are due to ionospheric conditions, but many are different modes that are being experimented with across our spectrum.

If you have access to a band scope, a way of visualising radio spectrum, you can actually see the shapes and patterns of such signals over time and getting to that point can be as easy as feeding your radio audio into your computer and launching a copy of fldigi or WSJT-X.

Every mode requires a specific tool to decode it and with practice you'll discover that there is often a particular look or sound associated with a mode. Over time you'll confidently select the correct decoder, using your brain for the process of signal identification.

Of course if you don't have access to the library in your brain yet, since you've only just started, or if the mode you've come across is new, you'll need another library to discover what you found. There is such a library, the Signal Identification Wiki. It's a web-site that hosts a list of submitted signals, grouped by usage type, including one for our community.

On the amateur radio page of the Signal Identification Wiki there are over 70 different modes listed, complete with a description, an audio file and a spectrogram. With that you can begin to match what you've discovered on your radio to what the web-site has in the library and determine if you can decode the incoming information.

I will mention at this point that the Signal Identification Wiki is far from complete. For example, the Olivia mode has 40 so-called sub-modes of which about 8 are in common use. Each of those sub-modes looks and sounds different. The wiki shows only a single line for Olivia.

I'm pointing this out because the wiki allows you to submit a mode for others to use. If you have a signal, either by recording it off-air, or better still, recording it directly from the source, consider submitting it to the wiki so others can benefit from your experience.

If you've come across a signal and you cannot figure out what it is, there are other places you can go for help. The four and a half thousand members of the /r/signalidentification sub on reddit will happily look at and listen to your signal and try to help. Make sure you contribute some meta data like the time, frequency and location to accompany the spectrogram and audio.

You might have come to this point wondering why I'm encouraging you to use and contribute to the wiki and ask for help on reddit. Amateur radio is about experimentation. We love to do that and as we make signal processing easier and easier, more people are making new modes to play with.

The speed at which this is happening is increasing and as an operator you can expect to come across new signals. I remember not that long ago, it was last month, tuning to an FT8 frequency and the person I was with asking what that sound was. They'd heard it before but never discovered its purpose, even though FT8 has been with us since the 29th of June 2017.

What interesting signals have you come across and how did you go with decoding them?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

ARRL EC Minutes record President's deep displeasure with FCC

ARRL President Rick Roderick K5UR has expressed his deep personal displeasure with the lack of action by the FCC on Amateur matters

The minutes of the ARRL Executive Committee meeting held June 8, 2021, say:

Mr. Roderick voiced his deep personal displeasure with the lack of action by the FCC on Amateur matters that are impairing the Amateur Service, saying that “ it is embarrassing that American Amateurs built upon its century-old tradition of message handling by developing many of the original digital message-handling techniques currently in widespread use,  but  due  to  a  1980’s-era rule are prevented  from communicating with stations in other countries using the most efficient state-of-the-art digital techniques.”

Continuing, Mr. Roderick commented that even more damaging is that the 1980's-era rule, and the delay in addressing other Amateur proceedings, some of which have been languishing for over eight years, are collectively preventing the Amateur Service from advancing the skills of new Hams in both communications and technical phases of the advancement of the radio arts.

Ending his comments, he shared his belief that efforts of the Amateur Service to recruit new Hams and interest students in STEM subjects are being thwarted by the lack of FCC action on long-pending matters that the ARRL has repeatedly urged the FCC to update and allow American Amateur  Operators  to  join  the  rest  of  the  world’s  Amateurs  in  the  experimentation  and  development  of  exciting new communication modes.

The EC minutes record the FCC has failed to resolve these Amateur Radio related proceedings:

• Docket 16-239 (symbol rate): Initiated by ARRL petition filed on Nov. 15, 2013; assigned RM-11708. After receiving comments, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to delete the 300-baud symbol rate as requested, but declining to propose any bandwidth limitation in its place. This NPRM was adopted by the Commission on July 27, 2016, comments received, and remains pending.

• RM-11767 (Eliminating the 15 dB HF Amplifier Gain Limit ) would delete the 15 dB HF amplifier restriction originally adopted in 1978 within a set of rules, many since repealed, that intended to prevent use of Amateur HF amplifiers by CBers.   Many modern amplifiers use LDMOS devices that have greater gain capabilities than tubes, but cannot be marketed in the U.S. without modification to limit gain. This petition was filed by Expert Linears America, LLC on April 7, 2016, comments received, and remains pending.  Expert Linears filed a Petition for Waiver of the same rule on June 11, 2016. After receiving comment, the Wireless Bureau denied the waiver request on Dec. 27, 2016, finding in part that ruling on the waiver request would prejudice the outcome of the petition for rulemaking by prematurely deciding the issue.

Read the full EC meeting minutes at
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/June%20EC%20Minutes%20Final(1).pdf

THURSDAY EDITION: We had quite a show last night with lots of lightning strikes in the ocean, lit the house up....I was going to launch the boat on Saturday but my son found the chain needs to be replaced in the mooring both bow and stern, diver scheduled for Saturday morning, the joy of owning a boat....

DISCOVERY TX-500

Nevada Radio are delighted to announce their appointment as exclusive UK Distributors and dealers for the new DISCOVERY TX-500 weatherproof 10W transceiver.

Covering 160m through to 6m this Russian made, military style radio, is set to take portable operating by storm!

The first shipment in to the UK is due September more details here:
https://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/.../discovery-tx-500-deposit/

FCC Reaffirms Nearly $3 Million Fine for Marketing Unauthorized Drone Transmitters

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Third day of some pretty good heat....Those huge boobs on your Hooter's waitress, that's a lie....Flying cars may become a reality sooner than we think....

TUESDAY EDITION: I had the opportunity to buy a month old LDG AT-100ProII autotuner yesterday. I gave it a whirl last night and I really like it so far, it replaces a LDG IT-100 which is basically the same thing but with more buttons and a LED display showing power out and SWR....I was given a prototype offset fed dipole by Rick-K1BQT years ago, it covers 10-40 ( I didn't try 75). I brought it to field day and it was used very successfully and worked flawlessly. Rick designed antennas and qrp rigs for MFJ and I believe this antenna is now in the MFJ line, thanks Rick!!....I took my wife to the Doctor yesterday in Beverly (15 miles off the island). It was 101 degrees out and when I got home it was 81, the benefits living 200 yards from the ocean....Good article on how to over complicate a simple antenna system....

MDXC presentation available online

Bob Urban, W9EWZ, President of the Madison DX Club, sent out the following announcement:
For those who might have missed the excellent presentation (on June 8th), "Modes of Propagation on 6 Meters," by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, the complete program video is now available on the Madison DX Club's YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbOR4kFlf2JgMuGVx5pKNYg/videos

Notes from the Museums: A Telegram

Today’s generation possesses an ability to enter text messages and emails on a cell phone with lightning speed. In 1885, when a telegraph office was established in the train depot in Brooksville, telegrams were created with that kind of speed.

Not only that, but a new language was devised by inventor, Samuel Morse, that became known as the Morse code. The telegraph operator had to learn the language of dots and dashes both to send and receive messages. The messages were printed as dots and dashes and then were transcribed into a typed telegram.

Operators got so good at hearing the telegraph key clicks that they could transcribe without even looking at what was on the written ticker. They used a sounding box to amplify and to help them hear the sound of the taps. Someone came up with the idea of placing an empty tobacco can next to the key to create an even louder sound.

Whether the telegram was sent from Dade City concerning a shipment of turpentine and rosin or from Raymond Robins at Chinsegut Hill to one of his well-known friends or officials, telegrams humming through the lines brought Brooksville into the high-speed world of the time.

MONDAY EDITION: I never got to the weekend news due to having fun with Field Day and final preparations on the new boat. I had a great weekend and welcome your Field Day picture at jcunham@aol.com...I am waiting for pics from our field day, I didn't shoot any due to my one handed situation due to shoulder surgery....30THZ news.....People are so afraid of being buried alive they had to invent safety coffins ......We Exploded Blast Proof Steel Box! How Many Grenades did it Take? .....Why does outer space look black....

Amateur Radio Club holds two-day event at USS Kidd

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports that the Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club members aboard the destroyer USS Kidd made radio contact with over 37 states, two Canadian providences and 10 other museum ships June 5-6.

The Kidd was one of 81 ships around the world taking part in Museum Ships Weekend. One of the primary objectives was to showcase those ships, now museums, that served their countries so well. Amateur radio operators got the opportunity to enhance their skills on Morse code and phone while onboard these historic ships.

Participating locally were Leonard and Dayna Bowman, Jennifer Bordelon, John Krupsky, Chris Reine, Jon Reise, Ken Shutt and Elmer Tatum.

The club will also be operating aboard the USS KIDD on July 4, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day) and Dec. 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day). Visitors are welcome to observe while following COVID-19 guidelines.

For more information about the club, visit brarc.org.

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Fans of ham radio have a Field Day this weekend in Pepperell

The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club will participate in the annual Amateur Radio Field Day this weekend, from Saturday, June 26, at 1 p.m., through Sunday, June 27, at 4 p.m.

The encampment will be setup at Pepperell’s West Heald Street Orchard, which is on Heald Street, Pepperell, Massachusetts. The public is invited.

The ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the U.S. and Canada.
On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or with friends to operate from remote locations.

Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, fun. More than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach and technical skills all in a single event.

Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio

THURSDAY EDITION: WX looks good for Field Day, that would be nice...Ten Meter report of activity....Flesh-eating parasites are on the rise in the US ....Why do snakes flick their tongues?....